A Perception of Reality
by ThisIsTheGreatestUsername
Summary: The 28th Floor was a land lost to the Orcs. A land that the clearers must now reclaim on their quest to complete this game, to free themselves, and to reach to the other side once more. But the price, it seems, must be paid in blood and death… (Slight AU)
1. The Frontlines

**Author Notes:** Hey guys, this is a rewrite of the old Perception of Reality. I felt the story got really messy there and decided to reboot the whole thing. When I had first wrote that fic, I literally wrote without a plan or even a good direction. Anyway, for this rewrite I have made some major changes to some of the characters and added some new ones. What I am aiming for this fic is for a concise story-telling unlike the all-over-the-place thing I had last time in the old version of PoR. For new readers, there's no need to read the old version, unless you really want to.

Key things to note in this fic is that it is slightly AU. I have made changes to the gameplay of SAO itself; there's archery in it, and also it's focus on being as realistic as possible such as there being dead bodies instead of exploding polygons. I'm going for this gritty portrayal of SAO. Anyway, without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own SAO, I just own an eleven game losing streak on League of Legends.

* * *

 **The Frontlines**

The village of **«Johurst»** was merely an insignificant dot on any map. With its location not anywhere near a major highway, commerce trade was a rarity for its population, and thus most of the villagers were forced to live off the land. Nevertheless, the people continued their lives without complains, simply unaware of the luxury that many others in urban towns enjoy. Peaceful, was a common word to describe the place.

However, that was not the case on this night.

The screams of women and children and men ripped through the air. The night illuminated by the great flames that engulfed the village. Riders, two dozens of them, stormed the streets, tearing down thatch roofs of houses with hooks and silencing living inhabitants with blades. They worked quick. No hesitation, no apathy, no mercy. Only a grim satisfaction in their work.

One man tried to put up a resistance and had brought out an old rusty sword to defend his ancestral home. His reward for his bravery was a mace that first shattered his sword as he tried to block, and then smashed into his face, killing him instantly. His house was then lit on fire and his body left to add fuel to the flame.

The village guards, the four of them, had abandoned their posts, and they hid inside the village's shrine, hoping for their deities to ward off the attackers. They didn't. And the raiders broke through the shrine's old wall with ease, putting everyone inside to the sword, then burned everything.

Screams, screams, and yet more screams.

The riders gave a noiseless grunt as they rode through the destruction they had caused, seeking out more deaths. There seemed to be no purpose for why they were doing this; the village was small and remote and yielded little plunder. And yet, the riders came here, like a sudden strike of lightning, with the goal of killing and leaving carnage.

Some of the villagers managed to escape south of the burning Johurst, but they didn't get far before being shot down by the archers hidden in the dark. Their bodies were dragged back to the village, where they were dumped in a pile and ignited to create a large bonfire.

Against the light of the fire, the riders' painted red skins seemed to brightened, not unlike that of a blood moon. They were not only tall, but large and muscular as well, and, through the masks they wore, they spoke a devilish language, as if it was a curse on the living themselves.

Everything burned. Those who still lived were kept prisoners, and there was little doubt that that was a fate worse than death. They were stripped, beaten, and had a mark carved into their chest with a knife. Then their hands were fastened with rope to the saddles of the riders' horses and they were forced to keep up as the riders rode out once more into the night, leaving behind the ruins of their homes.

At a safe distance, somewhere north of the village, Kirito watched the intruders disappear past the darkness of the land beyond the burning houses. He crouched back down against the wild bush he was hiding behind, nursing an arrow wound on his left arm. It was only a flesh wound, but the arrow had been a barb-headed one and it tore a wide gash in his skin. Any deeper and it would have scraped a bone. And that would be painful, he thought, very painful. If he had the time to equip his armour before running away from the village, then the wound would have been avoidable.

He let go of a breath that he had been holding. That had been a little too close to death than he'd like. And, believe it or not, he knew a thing or two about being close to death in this world. But damn, this time he had been lucky to have escape as soon as the riders descended upon the village; if he had been a step too slow or too hesitant, his fate would have ended up the same as the NPCs that had died on this night.

Well, Kirito thought, best not to dwell on the luck of things. At the end of the day, appreciate it when one is still alive. Though, he couldn't help but wonder who the hell were those riders; he didn't manage to get a good view of them in the dark, but they were unlike any of the orcs he had seen on this floor before, bigger and larger, and they had a dangerous ruthlessness that he certainly did not wish to face again.

Who were they? What kind of sick creatures has Kayaba thought of for this 28th floor?

Those were questions he had, but he knew the answers will only come later. So, for now, best not to think of them. After all, again, at the end of the day, appreciate it when one is still alive, and not dead in the mud.

* * *

The ceiling of the 28th Floor brightened up slowly, gradually changing from its night blue filter to a morning yellow one. It was a strange substitute for dawn, Asuna thought, and she wondered how long will it be before she could see a real sunrise again. Months? Or years, perhaps?

She quickly put the thought out of her mind, for the morning was no time for sentiments; it was a time for work, and she had plenty of work. She used to dread the morning, prayed that it never came; it was a reminder that she was still trapped in this game. However, time and habit eventually eroded her unease and settled her into a work routine that kept her well on her feet. Sleepless nights were still common, but the weariness always seem to seep away as she reminds herself of what needs to be done.

And what needs to be done now was a siege. **«Pathe Vares»** , the great fortress and final dungeon of the 28th Floor, stood just five hundred meters before Asuna.

The fortress was built on a large plateau of elevated bedrocks, and it domineered the surrounding land like a king on his high throne. It was once the pride of a kingdom, capable of withstanding years of siege, but after a disastrous defeat in battle, it was abandoned to the orcs of the east. And now, it was the clearers' job to reclaim the lost fortress. A job whose payment was in blood and death.

It was impossible to attack from the west, for a wide river ran alongside there, and the only approach lay across a long, stone bridge, guarded by two imposing wall towers equipped with springalds on their turrets. Also, more likely than not, the defenders will have cramped enough crossbows along the ramparts to ensure death to any assault from the west.

The north, in comparison, was more vulnerable. But the bedrocks in which the fortress was built on was at its highest there. The clearers would have to scale fifty meters of rock first, under the harassment of crossbow bolts and hurled stones, before even reaching the base of the curtain wall. No, Asuna wasn't going to attack from the north.

She was going to attack from the south; the plains were relatively flat and could easily be approached by the clearer army. While the plains in the east were just as flat, the clearers would be stretching their supply line too far and too deep in enemy territory if they attack there, leaving their rear dangerously exposed.

So south, it was. She had come to that decision just a few days ago, and just yesterday, eleven hundred players had set up camp south of Pathe Vares. And now, behind Asuna, they were waking up in their tents as the camp's rooster crowed. The sentries stood relaxed, because the threat of a surprise attack at dawn was over. Some players had already begun cooking breakfast, oatcakes baking in pans over fire. Others, still half-asleep, trudged towards the west of the camp where the barrels of water were stored. The morning grogginess would soon past for many of them, when they too remember the work to be done.

Asuna continued to stare at the fortress. It had two curtain walls, with the inner one twice the height of the outer one. Round towers jutted out along the length and the corners of the walls. A fortified barbican served as the gatehouse of the outer curtain wall, double portcullis gates barring any entry. And from the ridge on which Asuna stood, she could see dark-skinned sentries patrolling along the outer ramparts. She knew that the clearers were in for a tough fight.

An hour later, she was still standing on the ridge overlooking the southern walls of the fortress. However, now she had an entourage with her. She was speaking to a thin-faced man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He wore the red and gold livery of the **«Aincrad Engineers»**.

"Laennac, I want our siege weapons to be along there." Asuna pointed at one hundred meters to their right, a slightly elevated point on the ridge. "And there." Seventy meters to their left. "I want us to focus on taking out the flank towers first before making any breaches."

"I understand, Commander," the thin-faced man said. "I also suggest that we put our ballistae here, where we're standing now. I doubt that they will do much damage to the walls but they are well deadly to anyone trying to sally forth from the gates."

Asuna nodded, seeing the truth in the engineer's words. "Yes, do that. When can the work begin?"

"Immediately, but who should I give the grocery bill to?"

"Captain Bigot is in charge of the supplies. He'll give you the materials you need. If my memory serves me well, our stocks for the entire camp should be only twenty carts of timber, five hundred meters of rope, and two tons of iron ores—most of which are reserved for the blacksmiths already."

Laennac paused to calculate, then he spoke, "That's enough for two trebuchets and four ballistae. I would want to build some mangonels as well, but I doubt we have the materials."

"They will suffice. Go now."

"Yes, Commander." The engineer spun and walked back to camp.

Asuna turned to address a female aide of similar age to her. "Alayen, find Lind and tell him to set up a defensive line in front of this ridge. I also want trenches and stakes to protect our siege weapon batteries."

"Manual labour? DDA players aren't going to like that, Commander," Alayen said.

"At least they're not digging our latrine pits. And I don't really care about what they don't like. The necessities must be done."

"Understood, Commander." The aide waited for Asuna to scribble and sign the order on a piece of materialized parchment, then took the parchment and left immediately as well.

Asuna settled for a moment of peace. She watched a unit of cavalry assembled outside the camp's entrance in four ranks. They were dismounted, holding the reins of their horse with their right hand while cradling their helmet with their left. The cuirasses and greaves they wore were dented with hard use, and the spurs sticking out the heel of their sabatons were evidently crooked from heavy riding. Each player's face was scarred, adding a certain air of unmatched toughness to them, and their officer, denoted by the faded scarlet pelisse draped over his left pauldron, strode along the lines, inspecting each one of them for any signs of midnight drunkenness. There weren't any, and nor were any expected, for these players were the elite of the **«Knights of the Blood Oath»**. These players were the Extraordinarii.

The officer with the pelisse, once satisfied with the conditions of his men, gave the order to mount and, with the smoothness that spoke of immeasurable experience, the extraordinarii climbed their horses in one swift motion. They began trotting down a small dirt road which led them west. The officer rode ahead to where Asuna was.

"Commander, the extraordianarii are setting out," he said. The extraordinarii's orders were to investigate a village south-west of the clearers' positions; the initial scouting reports had stated that there was a large fire that burnt the village overnight, thus giving some grounds for concern. Despite being an elite forces, one of their duties were relegated to being mere scouts as they were most mobile players in the **«KoB».**

"Carry on, Lewis," Asuna responded.

"Yes, ma'am."

Asuna watched as the extraordianarii rode past her in a column of two. A set of familiar faces grinned at her. There was a time, she remembered, when she had ridden alongside them and fought alongside them, back when she had worn the scarlet pelisse that was similar to that of Captain Lewis'. The excitement, the adrenaline, the rush of wind as the horse galloped at full speed into the rear of the enemy; she missed it all. Back then, things were so much simpler; it was kill or be killed. But now, the weight of being commander bore down on her, and the responsibilities were much more consequential and real. Nevertheless, she had resolved to clear this game, and clear this game, she shall.

She saw the last of the extraordianarii cantered down the ridge towards the west, then she turned towards the rest of her entourage. "Come on, we have work to do. Someone, bring me the map."

* * *

The putrid stench of rotten eggs was, perhaps, one of the last things Konata wanted to be woken up to. Actually, to be fair, she had already been awake for at least an hour or so and was just lying still with her eyes closed when the stink came on like a morning bucket of water. She sat up instantly, doubling over with one hand over her mouth as she forced the bile down her throat.

The nausea moment passed, but Konata kept her hand where it was, taking in deep breaths. Bad idea; the bile came back up, and she spat vomit all over the interior of her tent, over her straw bed, over her tunic, over her legs. The nausea moment passed again.

"Shuji! What the fuck is that smell?" she shouted, pinching her nose. "That better not be breakfast!"

A male's voice, obviously with a pinched nose as well, answered her from outside the tent. "Some guy just dropped a pot of shit. He's cleaning it up now."

Damned alchemists, Konata thought, always making a mess. She guessed it was somewhat her fault as well, for deciding to set up camp near some alchemist guilds' storages. But it was either here or be squashed up by dozens of other players' tents; at least here, there was some breathing air— _was_.

She materialized a white cloth, wiped the vomit off her tunic and pants, then crawled out the flap of her tent, all the while holding her breath. She stood up, unsure of how much of a mess she must have looked like. Shuji was sitting by a small fire pit, tending to a pot of boiling water; he smiled at her, the _I-want-to-laugh-that-you-puked-yourself-but-it-stinks-too-much_ kind of smile.

"You've got something in your hair," he said.

"Shut your face, Shuji," snapped Konata, already running her hands through the contours of her caramel hair. They came away sticky.

"Good morning to you too," Shuji said, his grin easing up. He watched her for a moment, genuine concern in his eyes, then said, "You okay there?"

"I will be, once this smell goes away." She hunted for the source of it, and found it in a young player squatting on the dirt ground to scrape a spilled green substance into a dark metal bucket. A thick face mask was perhaps the only thing stopping the boy from keeling over from the smell.

"Freaking kids," she murmured. "Can't get anything right." She suddenly spat, more so because her mouth was full of the taste of bile than any intentional reprove. "Urrgh."

"Here, drink this," said Shuji, holding a wooden mug of steaming content. "It'll clear the bad taste."

Konata took the mug with both hands. "Thanks." She took a large sip; it was light tea. She swirled the liquid inside her mouth, rinsing carefully, then she swallowed before taking another sip. "This is good," she said, sitting down next to Shuji.

The dark-haired player nodded, making himself another mug. "Glad you like it. But I thought you were always more of a coffee person?"

"I am, but I'm partial to anything I can get. You know that."

"Only too well."

They sat in companion silence for the next few minutes, sipping their drinks, doing their best to ignore the smell. The kid eventually managed to clean up after his mess and the stink went away soon enough; SAO was too realistic of a game, but even then, it could not be expected to host mundane files such as a lasting smell.

"So what's today's plan?" asked Shuji.

Konata felt a sense of nervousness stirring within her. This was their first floor raid and neither of them had any idea what was to be done. The siege works had just begun, but there was little need of anyone other than an engineer. Thus, besides those that were on active duty today, most of the clearers were given the freedom to do as they wish. Konata might have been happy that they weren't heading to battle just yet, but she found that even when sitting idly her nerves was just as erratic.

"I don't know," she said.

"Rinsuu might have something for us. You think so?"

She didn't answer him. Instead, she looked away from his eyes, finding an unusual interest in a small patch of grass several feet away.

"Konata?" Shuji prodded. "You okay?"

She shook her head. "It's nothing," she said. "I'm just spacing out."

"Oh alright." There was a frown on Shuji's face, and Konata suspected that he knew what she was thinking. It was creepy how he does it sometimes, but then again she could read his mind half the time too; she guessed it was skill that comes along from knowing each other since childhood.

"What were you saying again?" she asked, deciding to return to previous conversation.

Shuji ran a hand through his hair. "I was asking if you think Rinsuu will have us do anything today?"

"Probably. I doubt he'll just abandon us on the first day of the raid."

"Oh look, speak of the devil." Shuji pointed at a distance, where a lone player crossed a small grass field over to their tents.

When the player had come close enough though, Konata realized it wasn't Rinsuu. "That's Spanner."

Spanner walked up to them, a grin on his face. "Well, Rookies, had a good night sleep?"

"Yeah," Shuji answered. Konata nodded. "Just some trouble in the morning."

The grin only grew wider. "Let me guess; alchemists?"

"Bingo."

Spanner let out a light-hearted chuckle. "This won't be the only time, for some reason someone always seems to fuck up and drop goblin crap or something when going through those storages. Don't worry though, everyone made the same mistake the first time. We all see that the area near the stores are relatively empty and spacious, and we decide to camp there, and then next thing we know, acid's in our breakfast."

"You couldn't tell us this last night?" Konata pointed out.

"Some lessons are better learnt through experience." Spanner scratched his neck. "Anyway, I came here to get you guys; Rinsuu wants everyone. We've got a job to do."

"What job?"

The player shrugged. "Don't know. We'll see. Come on, let's go."

* * *

The northwestern section of the clearers' camp was allocated to the blacksmiths, and on this morning was heavy with traffic as players hurried to get their equipment repaired or enhanced for the day's work of grinding. Clouds of smoke drifted precariously between players, causing many to cough and sweat feverishly whilst they waited. The clanging of hammer meeting metal, grindstones grating edges, and impatient shouts calling for haste, sounded throughout the area. NPC boys ran about, hired by smiths to fetch water to refill their quench tanks.

For Konata, it was obvious of who were the better smiths just by watching the manner in which they work. The experienced blacksmiths, seemingly unfazed by the heat blazing from the furnaces, knew how to judge the temperature by the colour of the metal, hammering with ease, while the inexperienced ones struggled and rushed, choking in the smoke. However, despite the difference in skill levels, Konata noted, all of them worked diligently, their eyes gleaming with the determination to do their part in clearing this game.

A small gust of wind suddenly blew the smoke to her as she walked past, and she instinctively covered her eyes. "Aah!" the sting came nevertheless. She coughed, rubbing her eyes gently. It was amusing at first that the game was realistic in including these little sensations, she thought, but then it quickly got annoying and, at times, downright frustrating.

Spanner led them into a small makeshift workshop built from mud; inside, was a forge lined with bricks, unlit and cold. Six players stood tightly together waiting, and they nodded at Konata and Shuji as they entered.

"Where's Rinsuu?" Spanner asked.

"He's coming." The player who answered was a man named Yaro, and Konata had reckoned that he must be at least seven foot.

"Late as always?"

"Pretty much."

The next few minutes went by without much incident. The room was warm from the pressed of bodies. A row leather aprons hung off pegs across the wall. Konata could hear Denham cracking some jokes with Yaro and the not-so-silent fuming of Hagman who was obviously not a very patient man. Spanner was in deep conversation with the only other girl in the room; Mayor was her name and she kept a warm smile the whole time Spanner was talking. The others were engaged in idle chatter, marking the time till Rinsuu arrives. Only Nahal, the smith, was silent, as he was busy working the edge of an arming sword against a grindstone.

They were all solo players, who banded together. Each one of them had at least seen four floor raids, and fought through enough deaths for a lifetime. They had offer a place for Shuji and Konata when they had first arrived on the front lines a week ago, and Konata was more than grateful for their help. However, she felt like a dwarf amongst them as they carried themselves with a certain confidence that she knew she would never have.

"Look lively, Konata," Shuji nudged her. "First day of the raid."

"You aren't exactly happy-go-lucky either," she responded.

Shuji smiled, nervously scratching the back of his head. "I'm a bit scared, to be honest."

"That makes two of us."

"As always."

The sound of armoured feet crushing gravel came from outside the workshop and, not a moment too soon, Rinsuu walked in nonchalantly, suave as ever, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had kept everyone waiting. He was a dark-haired man and had a small stubble of a beard. And, unlike everyone else in the room, he had donned his full armour, fitted with a steel cuirass, kote gauntlets, and lamellar thigh guards over dark blue pants. If Konata had known any better, she would say that he bore a striking resemblance to the samurais of the past.

Behind the samurai, a brown-haired player, who Konata had never seen before, followed in. He was perhaps the same age as Shuji, around nineteen years old, and he wore a red and gold livery. His face was round, not the fat kind of round, but the soft, cute kind of round, and he moved around the workshop, not quite sure of himself.

"Morning everyone!" Rinsuu piped. "I see that we're all here."

Someone grunted, most likely Hagman.

"Alright, straight to business then. This is Luminos from the Aincrad Engineers." Rinsuu placed a hand on the brown-haired player's shoulder.

"Hey there," Luminos said weakly.

"The engineers have hired us for a job for us today. Payment at the end of the day as usual." The samurai pulled out a scroll from his belt and unrolled it on the lone table of the room, revealing neat drawing of the dungeon and the surrounding land. A small circle marked the clearers' camp, just south of the fortress. "Pay attention. East of where we are, there's a stone outpost."

Rinsuu jabbed a finger at a tiny dark block which guarded an eastern road on the map. "There's perhaps close to a hundred orcs defending that place. The Commander gave the order to clear them and garrison the place so as to protect the army's flank from any attacks from the east. Lieutenant Kaspa of the Great Brigade will be leading a half-company to do the job, and Luminos here is to fortify the defenses of the area once Kaspa captures it. We're there to do whatever Luminos says."

"You all will mainly be the manpower I need," Lumnios said. "Kaspa's men won't be under my command, you see."

"Will we be taking part of the fighting?" Mayor asked.

"Err…yeah, you'll be fighting. Every player will have to fight there, including me." The engineer fidgeted slightly when he said those words.

Rinsuu seemed to have sensed that the man was worried, for he gave him a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder. "Rooks," he said, referring to Shuji and Konata, "you two will stick with Luminos the whole time. No problem?"

Konata and Shuji shook their heads.

"Alright, then. Denham, Yaro, Hagman, you three follow me now. We're picking up something up from the supply depot. Everyone else, eastern gate in one hour. So, go get your gears ready."

Everyone nodded, then proceeded to file out the workshop. There were no complains that the meeting had only lasted several minutes when they had waited longer for Rinsuu to arrive. Konata guessed that it was just because the group was used to the samurai's eccentrics.

"Konata, you go on ahead," said Shuji. "I need to get some things fixed by Nahal."

"Alright. Don't take too long," she said.

She walked out into the bright morning sun. Her first thoughts were to go buy some more bodkin arrows from a bowyer; these arrows had narrow trisection heads designed to pierce through armour, and they will no doubt cost Konata a chunk of her weekly wages. But it will be worth it, she reckoned, considering the types of mobs she was going to face this day.

She saw Luminos walked past her and she realized that she had forgotten to introduce herself since she and Shuji were going to have to stick with him during the outpost raid. She ran up to him. "Hey!"

Luminos turned to her. "Yeah?"

"I'm Konata. Nice to meet you." She reached out her hand.

The engineer shook it. "Nice to meet you too. Konata is your real name, right? Not your avatar name?"

"Yeah," she said, allowing a small smile, "I prefer people calling me by my real name."

"That's nice."

"Besides, my avatar name is too embarrassing."

Luminos raised a curious brow, smirking slightly. "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"You'll find out later when we party up."

"Why don't you just tell me now?"

"Better later than sooner," said Konata, smiling.

"If you say so." Luminos's face retreated into a slight frown. "So, you and the other guy are supposed to stay with me during the fight?"

Konata noticed that he had fidgeted again like he did earlier in the workshop. She nodded. "Yeah. The other guy is called Shuji, by the way; he prefers his real name too. He may look like an idiot but you can rely on him," she said. _I know I do._

That seemed to assured the engineer for he smiled again. "You know him a lot?"

"We've been friends for pretty much our whole lives now. He's more of a family than a friend, actually." Though, it was a fact she had only recognized after the death game had started.

"Sounds like a great guy," Luminos said.

Konata nodded. "That, he is." She knew only too well.

* * *

Two hours of sleep were what Kirito only got from the night before. The rest of the time, he had been on the move, heading for the clearer's camp, because of the fear that the riders would return to the village Johurst—or what was left of it. He had walked north-east, keeping an eye for the riders, and he knew he hadn't made much distance from the village due to being cautious of getting lost in the dark.

With the sunlight now on his side though, he could now see the land clearly, albeit the sky was partially hindered by the smoke drifting behind him, and he could plot his way to the frontline. A sea of dirt ground and wild hedges surrounded him, and the wind blew in the smelt of soot. East was probably where he should be heading now, for the clearers' camp would be somewhere there.

He let out a cough, then checked the bandage on his left arm; it was slightly bloodied, but when he had opened it he saw that the wound had healed. He cut the rest of the bandage away with a knife he kept on his person at all times. Then he materialized a piece of hard bread and began chewing on it.

It was then that Kirito saw the first outline of riders coming from the horizon. His heart sank. He knew that this time he didn't have the darkness to hide and they would surely see him.

His suspicion was confirmed when the leading rider shifted his bearing to ride directly towards him. Oh well, he thought, it's not like he could outrun horses. He pushed himself up to stand, then drew his longsword of its sheath; the blade was smooth, almost water-like in a way, and it gave a silent defiance that Kirito could feel radiating through his fingers.

He equipped his gauntlets, and greaves, and barbute which was a visorless helmet that covered both sides of the face well; his steel cuirass had already been equipped since the night before and he hadn't dared taking it off. He could still try to make a break for it, but he knew it was pointless; the land was flat, perfect for cavalry to ride down anyone foolish enough to trek alone.

"Fuck me," he said. Let those be his last words.

But the riders weren't the riders from last night.

There were around thirty of them, and the surcoats they wore were white and emblazoned with a red coat of arms, which Kirito couldn't quite make out at the distance, but he would be damned if he didn't recognize who they were. Their horses, coursers by the looks of them, were magnificently white as well, as if they were just curried this morning. If there was one thing he say about the extraordinarii, other than being the best cavalry of the clearers' army, he would say they always look great whenever they make an entrance.

He sheathed his blade as the extraodianarii slowed to a medium gait, dusting the dirt off his armoured legs. The leading rider, who wore a scarlet pelisse, rode up to him, while the others parted and rode onwards in the direction of the burning village.

Kirito grinned at the man. "Captain Lewis, it's good to see you."

"Good to see you too, Kirito," Lewis responded, flashing a grin as well as he dismounted. "I haven't seen you in the last three raids, and here's where I find you. Out of all the place, eh?"

"Indeed. Strange world sometimes." He was glad that it was Lewis who came; it was rare enough to find a player who didn't hate him.

"You got that right." Lewis glanced in the direction of Johurst. "So can the Black Swordsman tell me what exactly happened here?"

"A fucking mess," Kirito said.

Lewis frowned; Kirito had forgotten that the man disapproved of swearing. "I can see that," the player said without humour. "I need details."

"Sorry," Kirito muttered. "I was on my way to the frontlines, and I stopped here in this village to complete a quest and stay for the night. It was around midnight when riders came. They—"

"Riders?"

"Yes, riders. I didn't get to get a close look at them. But they were a different breed of orcs, unlike anything I've seen on this floor so far."

Lewis pursed his lips in thought, then spoke, "Okay, keep going."

"So there were around twenty of them, and they came suddenly in the night, out of nowhere, and started killing everyone. I ran the second I knew what was happening." Small villages outside the main towns on floors were rarely **«Safe Zones»** and thus were susceptible to being attack by mobs. Kirito had experienced his fair share of that occurring, but last night was on a scale unprecedented before; the memory of his short encounter with the riders was enough to deter him from wanting to face them again. "They killed everyone and burnt everything, even the bodies, then they rode away eastward. Oh yeah, and there were archers hidden around the outskirts of the village; they took out anyone who tried to escape. I got hit in the arm, right here, but I managed to get out of sight after that. Ever since, I have just moving towards the clearer camp until you guys came."

The captain paused for a moment as he waited for Kirito to add anything more. "No survivors?" he asked.

"There were some, but they were taken prisoners."

"Was there any other players here, or was it all NPCs?"

"All NPCs, I think. I didn't see any players in the village when I came," said Kirito.

Lewis let out a sigh. "That's good. How are you though?"

"A little tired"— _more like trying not to pass out from exhaustion_ —"I'll be fine as long as you get me to camp."

"Will do. I'll need you to report to the Commander about all of this when we get back though," said Lewis.

"Sure. Who's the Commander for this final raid, by the way?"

"Asuna."

Kirito's eyes widened and he felt his heart clenched. "A-Asuna?!"

Lewis grinned at his disbelief. "Don't underestimate her, Kirito. She knows how to get things done."

"I know that. Too well in fact. It's just came as a bit of a surprise to me." He remembered the time when he had first met her. The quiet, headstrong girl who only let her blade do the talking. He had told her she would become strong in this world then. And now she was Commander of the Clearer Army. Talk about being right. "God, she's going to kill me for missing the last three Floor raids."

The captain chuckled. "One player missing hardly matters to her, you know. Why were you missing though?"

"Umm…" Kirito said, rubbing the back of his head, "long story. I'll tell you some other time."

"Alright. Tell me more about the riders from last night then," Lewis said.

Kirito glanced back at Johurst; the fire was almost gone, and the extraordinarii there had begun fishing out the treks the intruders had left behind when they rode away. "As I said before, they were nothing like I've seen before. The way they kill, it was just so brutal. They were bigger than your average orc on this floor. Even their horses are bigger than destriers. I think I saw one take a bite out of a man."

Lewis pursed his lips in thought again. "I will have to report this to the Commander; she'll want to hear this. Thank you for your help, Kirito."

"Anytime, Captain. What's the situation there anyway?"

"It's looking pretty good; the Commander has got everything running smoothly. The siege works has just begun. The Great Brigade will be clearing out the east. DDA are on patrol rotations. And Heathcliff and his Chosen men will be cleaning the ruins in the south." The captain mounted his courser swiftly and looked down at Kirito. "Wait here for me, will you? I'm going to check up on my men, and see this village myself, and then we'll head back to camp."

"Okay."

And with that, Lewis rode off, leaving Kirito alone once again, surrounded by the sea of dirt and wild hedges.

* * *

 **Author Notes:** This chapter took me a while to write actually because I'm a terribly slow writer. I want to say that I would update soon, but I find that every time I have said that so far, it would be months before I actually do. So, I'm not going to say anything now about when I'll update. Perhaps if I don't say it, then maybe I will actually update faster. Lol who knows, I'm a bit superstitious this way.

Regardless, tell me what you think about this chapter. Tell me if it's good or bad, I don't mind any harsh criticisms. Point out any flaws you might find because I'm definitely sure this chapter ain't perfect.

Well, that's the end of this chapter, be sure to favorite, follow, review, or PM me if you want. See ya.

 **Edit:** Fixed and added some stuff according to the reviews of Agent 94 and TheGreatWhiteNortherner. Thanks guys!

I also added a title to this chapter: The Frontlines. I also made changes to the members of Rinsuu's party; now instead of eleven players in the party, there are only eight: Rinsuu, Denham, Yaro, Hagman, Spanner, Mayor, Shuji and Konata; Nahal the blacksmith does not count as one.


	2. One Thing at a Time

**Author's Notes:** Sorry for taking a few months to update. I had exams and a bunch of other commitments. Anyway, hope you enjoy what I have here.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Sword Art Online, I just own a newfound love for the song 'This Illusion' in Fate stay night/Unlimited Blade Works.

* * *

 **One Thing at a Time**

It was mid-afternoon, when the extraordinarii rode past a number of picquets and reached the clearer camp. Kirito did his best to ignore the scrutinizing glances that came his way as he dismounted off the spare horse he was given by the extraoridinarii. No doubt word will be spreading soon that the Black Swordsman was back in the frontlines again.

Part of him had wanted everyone to forget who he was during his recent absence, but the rest of him knew that it was an impossible occurrence and that his reputation would forever stick with him for the rest of his life in this world. He sighed inwardly, but kept a cold face on the exterior; a trait he had learnt to adopt, especially when in front of those who hated his guts.

Captain Lewis came up to Kirito after dismissing his men. He had a frown that had not left his face ever since he saw the burnt remains of **«Johurst»**.

"Kirito, come with me to report to the Commander," he said, then strode off further within the camp without checking to see if Kirito was following.

Kirito trailed after the man, taking note of the number of tents in the area; there seemed to be less of them than in previous floor raids. They were set up in orderly blocks of six tents, and each block had a common fire pit for cooking. There were some players sitting outside by the pits, maintaining their equipment, and Kirito felt their glares as he walked down a clear path that led up to the Commander's tent.

Two guards stood outside the Commander's tent, which was shorter but twice as wide as the other tents, and they nodded as they let Lewis in through the door. Kirito stepped to enter as well, but one of them stopped him with a firm hand to his chest.

"Your weapons," the player said.

Kirito hid his annoyance and kept the cold face on as he unbuckled his longsword from his belt and retrieved a couple of knives hidden throughout his clothes and armour; one of them was awkwardly shoved between his cuirass and the small of his back that it looked like he was scratching his butt when he struggled to pull it out. The guard frowned at him before moving in to pat him down further.

"You can go in," he said.

Lewis had already begun to brief Asuna on his findings in the burning ruins of Johurst when Kirito entered. The commander was sat behind a small work desk that was home to a pile of scrolls and parchments. Her long brown hair was kept rolled in a tight bun resting on top her head, and her eyes, her hazel eyes, had the same sharp intensity since the last time Kirito had seen them. She had an expression that told anyone speaking to her to cut all the bullshit and get right to the chase.

Truly there was no other person that could made him suddenly nervous when in front of.

Thankfully, for the moment her attention was fixed solely on Lewis as he gave his report and she gave no signs that she had even notice that Kirito was in the room. In that time, he quickly composed himself and prepared several answers in his mind for the questions he knew she would ask soon.

"…and the tracks showed that they came from the south and exited to the north. I didn't follow the trails, but they were probably headed for the fortress," Lewis finished.

Asuna nodded, taking in the information she was given. "We had picquets everywhere last night watching the western and southern gates, and none of them reported seeing any riders."

"They might have slipped into the fortress at some other gates then."

"True." The Commander tabbed her fingers on the desk. "Strange though. I've never heard of a whole village being wiped out by mobs before."

"Same. This is the first occurrence."

"These riders…what are they?"

"I think it's best that Kirito here answered that, since he's the only one that saw them."

Kirito nodded at what the captain said. His memory of last night was still vivid, and he doubt that he would forget them anytime soon.

"Kirito," said Asuna, finally turning her attention to him; he blinked. "Tell me about those riders; I need all the information about their forces."

Kirito explained to her the events of last night, leaving nothing out. He described everything in detail, from the start to the end. Asuna's face remained impassive as he spoke, showing no reaction. At the end of his tale, she merely inclined her head and scribbled something on a piece of parchment. Kirito knew she was not indulging in idle silence, but must be considering something in deep thoughts; she was just that type of person.

"Lewis, thank you for your report. You may leave," she finally said at last. "I need to speak with Kirito."

Lewis saluted, then left without a word.

Kirito waited for Asuna to speak, but she did not say a word. She stood up from her seat, and walked to the side of her desk with her arms behind her back. The silence in the tent only grew as their eyes met and held. Then Kirito flinched his gaze away.

"So you're back on the frontlines, huh?" she said, breaking the ice.

"I am." He nodded.

"I always knew that you'll be back someday. You're the one person I know who just can't stay away from the fighting. I can't say that anyone here missed you though."

"Yeah, I know that. You yourself don't seem too happy to see me," he said.

"What gave you that impression?" Asuna questioned, returning to her chair.

"Nothing. It's just that we haven't exactly seen things eye to eye in the past." He remembered the countless of arguments he had with her whenever he joined a raid with the **«KoB»** , back when she was still the captain of the Extraordinarii.

"That's true, we have our…differences. But that doesn't mean I do not respect you. To be honest, it's good that you're on the frontlines again. We need good fighters. I may not seem too happy, but that's because I'm busy; I have an army to think for, and there is a siege to be done. You coming back here doesn't change that fact."

"I understand," Kirito said.

He saw the position Asuna was in. As Commander of the clearer army, she had the most responsibilities, and he could see that she was trying her hardest to be distant from others so as to disallow emotions and feelings to hinder her decisions. Her effort was almost something to be admired—if it weren't for the fact that it seemed too cruel to place the lives of hundreds into her hands when she was still yet so young. At eighteen years old, Asuna had amazingly commanded the respect of the clearers, just as amazingly as Kirito had done with their scorn. But right now, standing in front of her, he could hardly begin to comprehend the burden resting on her shoulders.

"I guess I'll leave now," he said, "Congratulations on being elected Commander, by the way. Sorry for saying it so late."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

He turned to leave, but paused when Asuna spoke again, "Wait, Kirito. Actually, I think I could use some fresh air. Care to join me?"

Kirito felt his heart clenched, surprised by the proposal. "S-Sure."

"Follow me," she said, standing up from her desk. "I want to check on Laennac and the siege engines." She strode out the door of the tent, with Kirito behind.

"Terrel, tell anyone looking for me that I'll be back soon," Asuna said one of the guards.

"Yes, Commander," Terrel assented, raising a salute.

"I need my weapons back, by the way," said Kirito.

The guard looked to Asuna, who nodded, and promptly returned to Kirito his longsword and knives.

After taking a short time placing the weapons back in their proper places, Asuna led the way, and Kirito followed suit. They headed north, past the camp gate, and Kirito could see the southern walls of **«Pathe Vares»** clearly as it loomed closer. It was a sight to behold, but he knew better than to be frightened by it; after all, it was likely that Kayaba's worst had yet to come.

Laennac was busy supervising the construction of one of the trebuchets as Kirito and Asuna arrived. Workers hurried about, carrying hammers, ropes, and wedges. Long blocks of timber were tied together firmly, forming a strong rhombus-shaped base for the trebuchet that could withstand the massive recoil every time the trebuchet launched. Already Kirito marveled at the size of the siege weapon, even though most of it had yet to be built, but he could imagine the height of it easily being thirty feet.

"Commander," Laennac called out to Asuna. He frowned at the sight of Kirito.

"Everything's good, Laennac?" Asuna asked.

The engineer nodded. "The siege works have been going smoothly so far. We have all the materials and equipment we need," the engineer replied.

Asuna nodded. "That's good. See if you can get your guys to work any faster," she said, "we need to start bringing down those walls soon."

"Yes, Commander."

Kirito looked past the ridge to see **«DDA»** players resting on the ground as they watched the fortress gate. He saw some of them glanced his way, and sighed inwardly. Some things never change, he guessed.

"Carry on, Laennac," said Asuna.

She walked on, checking on the works on the ballistae.

Kirito was about to follow her when one of the engineers came up next to him. The player had a mess of a beard on his chin, and was covered in dirt and sweat.

"You know, Black Swordsman," the engineer said in a low volume. "I heard from some people that you had died. That's why you've been missing these last two months."

Kirito looked at him straight in the eye, not letting the cold mask drop. That was how you deal with players trying to shake you. Look at them in the eye, and show that you're not afraid. "Yeah? Well, what do you think?"

The engineer shrugged. "You're alive, aren't you? Welcome back to the frontlines," his voice didn't sound very welcoming, "Though don't be surprised if you find out that some of us here truly wished you were dead."

"I won't be surprise at all," Kirito said and simply walked away.

He headed to where Asuna was, which was standing on the edge of the ridge, looking out at the walls of Pathe Vares. There was a light breeze in the air, a delight in the otherwise boiling day, with birds flying low in fear of the sun.

"What did that player say to you?" asked Asuna as she heard him approach.

"Nothing. Just a 'welcome back'," he said.

She turned to face him, an eyebrow raised. She stared at him for a long moment, and he felt a cold sweat running down his cheek. Then she sighed. "Kirito, look at the fortress and tell me what you think."

He looked ahead and saw the vast fortifications. The place looked impenetrable, impregnable. Kayaba must be amused right now, wherever he was. The madman was probably eager to see how many players would die against this fortress. Dozens? Or maybe hundreds? It made Kirito sick thinking about it. He clenched his fist.

"We're in for a heck of a fight," he said.

"My thoughts exactly," Asuna said, smiling. "You see those towers on the walls?"

"Yea."

"Once the trebuchets are done, I plan to take those out first before we start making a breach. That way the assault can go smoother."

"Sounds good. Though, the problem is time. I see about twelve towers. We'll waste quite a lot of time to destroy them all."

Asuna shook her head. "Not necessarily. We only need to take out the towers closest to where the breach will be. I'll leave it to Laennac to decide where he wants the breach at."

Kirito nodded. "You're right, but you're only planning to make one breach?"

"What's wrong with just one? One's enough, in my opinion."

"The defenders will just be able to hold us at one chokepoint then. They can focus all their defense preparations at that one breach. With two, the orcs will be forced to defend both points."

"Didn't you just say that taking out towers would take too much time? Making a second breach will take even more time." A sigh escaped Asuna. "I see your point though. Two breaches it is. I'll have to ask Laennac how long that'll take."

Kirito assented, glad that this discussion didn't turn into an argument, unlike in many conversations in the past. He watched her as she continued to stare at the fortress with her arms crossed—those eyes of hers showing many thoughts—and he decided to leave her to herself.

"I think I'll head back to camp," he said. "I still need to pitch my tent."

She nodded and he turned to leave.

As he walked off, he heard Asuna called out, "I'm glad you're back, Kirito, I really am. Ignore what the others think or say. They'll run out of their hate one day."

A large smile crept to Kirito's face, and he chuckled. "I think you've got bigger problems to worry about than me, Commander."

"Yeah, I do."

"Don't stress yourself out then. One problem at a time, Asuna. One problem at a time."

* * *

Rinsuu shielded his eyes from the glaring sun with a gauntleted hand as he gazed at the distant outpost. The rolling flat plains all around was dotted with trees and wild growths, but resting on a grey mound hill was a withering castle, built with stones that must have seen at least half a dozen decades. At the base of the hill, was a courtyard full of small wooden buildings, enclosed by a palisade wall that was in disrepair and had fallen apart at some places. Next to the outpost, the remains of a farm was evident, with the old barn house all but charred timbers and ashes. Horses, dark-skinned and thin from what seemed to be malnourishment, were stabled at the farm's livestock pen, which had escaped destruction.

Rinsuu smiled at the broken structure.

"Looks like their defenses are in a bad shape," he said.

"That makes things easier for us," Lieutenant Kaspa responded, shielding his eyes as well as he looked at the outpost. "How many orcs do you think are there?"

"Judging from the number of horses, at least sixty. The numbers could easily be more though."

"I think so too." The lieutenant sighed.

They were standing almost a mile away from the outpost, hidden by the shade of a set of large trees. Further behind them, were almost fifty players awaiting decisions and orders, sweating under the day's heat. The small company of clearers were a mix of Lieutenant Kaspa's men from the **«Great Brigade»** and Rinsuu's group of solo players.

"Well, let's get this over with. I rather that we be finish here before sunset," said Kaspa.

"So what's the plan, lieutenant?" asked Rinsuu.

The lieutenant pondered for a moment. "They have the numbers advantage, but their walls are weak. And since this is just a minor outpost, I also doubt they're quality fighters. I'm sure a frontal attack will do the job good enough. Our players can handle it. What do you think?"

"Nothing wrong with a direct assault, but…" the samurai said, rubbing his chin, "but that castle worries me. Yeah, their walls are broken, but the castle is still in an easily defendable position."

"What do you propose, Rinsuu?"

The samurai cracked his neck first before speaking, "I'll take my guys and sneak behind the castle while you and your men attack from the farm. Hopefully, the orcs will be too distracted by your men to notice us while we capture the castle."

"Sounds simple, but will you be able to take the castle with just your men?" the lieutenant questioned.

"It won't be a problem," the samurai answered. "We've done this enough."

"Alright then. We'll do that. The signal before I start my attack will be two short blasts from the trumpet."

"Got it."

Rinsuu grinned, relieved that the lieutenant had agreed to his plan this easily. It was riskier for his guys, yes, but it placed them in a better position to obtain more valuable loot from within the castle. Kaspa had failed to recognize this fact, and for that Rinsuu was grateful. Sometimes, one just got to think selfishly.

"Well, let's get moving," he said. "Like you said, better to get this done sooner rather than later."

* * *

The day was hot. Hot enough that it was not hard for Konata to imagine that all the nine players here now were drenching in their sweat under their armour after they had taken the better part of the hour moving to their current position behind the stone castle of the outpost. They were out of bowshot range from the palisade walls that ran across the base of the grey hill on which the castle stood upon. Unfortunately, the walls at this section were whole and unbroken unlike in other areas. But Konata saw that they were still low enough to be scaled with relative ease.

Konata pulled on the string of her bow to full draw, then let it loose gently before drawing again. It was a practice that Mayor told her to do before the start of a fight. Not only did it warmed up the bow, it helped keep one's nerves steady as they concentrated on performing the motions. Her arms felt unusually stiff and she saw her shooting form was wrong, with her bow arm cocked too much when it should have been only bent slightly.

Making rookie mistakes just before the raid begins, she thought, God, how was she going to survive this fight?

She looked at the towering castle before her, counting the number of arrowslits along the face of the old building. Six. She could imagine an enemy arrow coming out of one of them and killing her. She probably wouldn't even see it coming. It would pierce her in the throat, the worse place for an arrow to be, where she wouldn't be able to breath, and she would choke on her own blood, dying a slow death. Fuck, was she nervous. The thought that she might die on this Floor had hounded her ever since she joined the frontlines. She found herself reminded of the promises she'd made to herself, during the many sleepless nights in this world, to live to see the end of this game, to return to her family, and to never let her loved ones suffer again. All these promises that she would break, because of a single arrow.

Konata shook her head. "That won't happen," she murmured under her breath, focusing again on drawing her bow. "It won't."

She looked to Shuji, who stood next to her, recognizing from his blank expression that he was also thinking of something, then shook her head again.

"Hey, Shuji," she said.

He had been staring at the outpost as well, and he half-turned. "Yeah?"

"Do you ever had this feeling where you know you're going to get fucked up?"

Shuji nodded. "Right now."

"That's good to know," Konata said, letting out a sigh.

"I'm guessing you're thinking of the same too?" asked Shuji.

"Yeah."

"It's natural, I suppose, we both haven't done a raid like this before so we can only expect the worst."

"It's more strange, actually, don't you think?" said Konata. "You and I have been through a lot in this world, lots of close calls, we're no stranger to danger and surviving. And yet, here we are, shitting ourselves before yet another fight."

Shuji grunted. "You have a point there, if you put it that way. But I guess it's not important if you're either shitting yourself before the fight or during the fight, there's still the fight, and winning it is all that matters."

"That's true," murmured Konata.

They did not speak again for a while, leaving each other to their own minds and thoughts. It was this understanding that they shared between them that made Konata cherished the fact that it was Shuji, of all people, that she got stuck with in this game; a fact that she hoped would never change.

With nothing to do except wait, the group of nine players checked their armour to ensure that there weren't any loose pieces. Yaro stood out the most among all of them, donned in a full-plated harness, with a visored helmet; at almost seven feet tall, the player looked like a giant, walking chunk of metal.

Rinsuu paced up and down, interchanging between glancing at his men and at the castle.

"Am I deaf or has no else heard the signal yet?" Hagman growled, impatience on his face as always. He looked stuffed in his leather brigandine.

"The lieutenant is definitely taking his sweet time," Denham said, wiping the sweat off his face, tugging at his silver hauberk. "God, hens are laying hard-boiled eggs in this heat."

"He's probably wants to make sure we're in position first," Spanner suggested. He was equipped with a simple maile, helmet, and gauntlets. "Can't fault him for taking the extra caution."

"Won't be long then, if that's so," Rinsuu said. He walked up to Shuji and Konata. "You okay, rooks?"

"We're good," Shuji said.

"Where's Luminos?"

"He said he wanted to be alone for a bit. But he'll rush back to us once he hears the signal."

"Alright. Well, rooks, keep your heads calm and this raid will go smoother than you think it will," the samurai said, then moved on.

Ahead, somewhere past the outpost, a trumpet blew two sharp notes, and a loud battle cry rose. Rinsuu grinned.

"That's our signal, guys," he shouted, excitement in his voice. "You all know what to do."

"Aye, we do," Yaro said, grinning as well. "Blood and death."

"Blood and death," repeated Denham.

"About fucking time," Hagman snorted.

Luminos came running back. His face was slightly out of colour and he said, "I'm here. I'm here." He had a broadsword and a buckler equipped.

Shuji grabbed one of his arms. "Stick close to either me or Konata. If you're overwhelmed, just call out."

"I-I understand," the engineer said.

Konata checked her back quiver again, making sure all her arrows were still there.

Rinsuu took a step forward. "Let's get this over with. Anything that's not human or does not look human, kill it."

The samurai ran forward.

Konata and the others followed him. Once they reached the palisade walls, Spanner was the first to climb over, planting a foot against the wall and pushing off of it to force him upwards. His hands gained the ledge and soon he had pulled himself up and had one leg over the top. He reached down to pull Mayor up as well, and then both of them disappeared onto the other side of the wall. Rinsuu went up next.

"Give me a boost, Shuji," Konata said, hooking her bow onto her right shoulder.

Shuji nodded, then stooped low whilst cradling his hands. She stepped on it and launched herself upwards, grabbing the top and pulling herself over it. She landed on hard ground and rolled, grunting as she got up. Denham came next, followed by Hagman and Yaro. Shuji and Luminos were the last over the walls.

Konata's earlier fears were unfounded as no arrows came out of the arrowslits to kill her. In fact, there were no orcs over here, though she could hear the sound of fighting from where Lieutenant Kaspa had made his attack. Screams, shouts, and cries.

"Weapons," Rinsuu said, drawing a large claymore from its sheath, eyeing up the hill that led up to the castle.

Yaro materialized a great halberd, and he swung it lightly in the air. Shuji drew his saber, a silver blade.

The group made their way up the grey hill, keeping low so as to keep out of the sight of archers. They reached the iron door of the castle. Rinsuu tried to opened it, but it was locked.

"Had to try," he said with a shrug. "Bring out the hammers."

"I got them," Luminos said, already shifting through his menu. He materialized a large hammer and passed it over to Hagman.

"Stand back," the gruff player said, weighing the heavy piece of lead in his hands.

Then he took a step back and, with one great heave, he curved the hammer in a wide arc and brought it down on the hinge of the door. The metal hinge didn't break immediately, but it was noticeably weakened. Hagman took another swing at it, and still it did not break.

Konata turned her attention on the battle happening on the outpost's courtyard below. Clearers and orcs clashed. Orcs, large and ugly in size, donned in leather armour. They had twice the strength of the average man, and half the brain power. Renowned as one of the best killers of men, and Konata could see why. They fought without restraint, brutal beyond measure. Each of their strike was wild and overwhelming. They threw themselves into players, without a care for danger and defense.

One orc had a sword impale through its chest, and it bit the arm of the player that had pierced it. Another orc cracked down its axe on a player's shield, breaking it. A spear immediately stabbed it in the abdominal, where it had no armour, and yet the orc didn't seem to be bothered by the pain and broke the shaft with another swing of its axe.

However, even against these beasts, the clearers were winning. The discipline of the players held, staying calm in the fight, whilst the trumpets blared in the background. Konata saw the banner of the **«Great Brigade»** ; an iron lion over a cloud blue background. Lieutenant Kaspa's men rallied around the banner, roaring their challenge. The standard-bearer himself fought with a blade in one hand and the lion banner in the other. Under a guild standard, each player received a significant EXP boost.

The yellow tabards the **«Great Brigade»** players wore over their armour were now stained with blood. One orc threw itself onto a female player, crashed against her shield, and was promptly cut down at the neck. Lieutenant Kaspa himself held against several defenders, shield-bashing one in the face, kicking another in the groin, and cutting a third one in the chest.

Bit by bit, the clearers pushed the numerical superior orcs back further within the courtyard. Storehouses and small buildings were built throughout the courtyard, and clearers and orcs fought in the open spaces, deafening the area in a discord of metal scraping metal. Arrows were flying from the arrowslits of the castle and onto the advancing players, but it did little to slow them.

The echoing crash of the door took Konata's attention away from the battle below. The metal hinge had broken apart and the iron door fell open, revealing a tight spiral staircase that spun clockwise to the floor above.

"Final-fucking-ly!" Hagman yelled. He handed the hammer back to Luminos and then drew his flanged mace.

"Shuji, you're left-handed right?" asked Rinsuu.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cos you're going up first."

Shuji didn't ask any questions; he merely nodded and went ahead. The others soon followed, with Konata and Luminos being the last to enter the castle. The sound of the fighting outside echoed inside the building. Going up the stairs, Konata understood why Rinsuu had wanted Shuji to be the first to go up; it was because in such a confined space, a right-handed player's weapon would be hindered and blocked by the central stone shaft, thus giving the defenders coming from above the advantage.

Grunts and shouts came from upstairs. Then a rush of footsteps.

"Shit!" Shuji cursed.

The sound of his blade connecting with another blade echoed down the stairs. Being at the bottom, Konata couldn't see anything. She saw only the backs of Rinsuu and the others as they pushed their way up. She heard the noise of metal striking and scraping metal. An odd sound rang, probably a sword hitting the stone interior. Her heart pounded within her; she drew her short sword from its sheath. She wanted to see what was happening.

A loud scream sounded, then the echoes of metals stopped.

"Alright, we can move," Shuji's voice came, panting. "Don't trip on the bodies."

"Good job, Shuji," Rinsuu said.

The group began moving up the stairs again, stepping over the dead bodies of two orcs. When they were near the next floor, Yaro flipped down his visor, which he had lifted up earlier because it was too dark. He then overtook those in front of him.

"I'll take it from here," Konata heard the giant player say to Shuji.

What followed next was a terrible warcry as Yaro sprinted up the remaining steps to burst through the doorway to the second floor of the castle. The sound of arrows hitting his plate armour echoed.

"Go! Go!" Rinsuu shouted, rushing up the stairs as well.

Konata ran with the others. They entered a large, spacious room, lit by torches on the walls. There were orcs everywhere. Some had bows and they loosed a volley at the intruding players. Luminos caught some shaft with his shield, mostly by luck by the look of things—one always needs luck in a fight. Konata saw one orc had its naked back towards her and she stabbed her sword between the shoulder blades. The orc arched backwards in pain, and she kicked it to free her blade, then hacked into its neck while it was still sprawling on the ground.

Rinsuu roared his challenge, stabbed the first orc he saw in the mouth, then swung right, ripping through the beast's cheeks to cut a second orc in the head. Both fell dead. Hagman came up beside him, fending off several opponents. Then an orc swung its bowstave at his face. The blow connected, and Hagman roared in anger and smashed his mace into his assailant's chest, crushing it.

"Fucking bastard!" he shouted, spitting blood. "Broke my nose!"

"You're fine, Hag," Rinsuu laughed. "I wouldn't call anything a battle if your nose ain't broken at least once."

The player grunted at that, then raced forward to meet another orc.

More orcs came from the staircase that led to the higher floors. Blood tainted the floor, the walls, the ceiling. Yaro, who despite bearing the brunt of multiple attacks, swung his halberd with deadly strikes, the axe-head slicing into flesh and limbs. His breastplate had several arrow shafts sticking out of it, however they must have not penetrated far enough, for the giant player showed no signs of being affected by any wounds.

Konata glanced at her surroundings quickly. The floor was littered with dead orc bodies. Bows, swords, axes lay scattered. Luminos stood by her side, shield constantly held up. Shuji was close by too; he cut into the arm of an orc, then twisted his sabre downwards so that it slashed into the knees. The orc cried out in pain as it fell to the ground, then was silenced with a quick thrust at its throat.

The defenders rallied to a large orc at one end of the room, whose shouts carried across the fighting. It wore a chain-mail vest, and had a helmet on its head unlike the others. Its fists were gauntleted and one of them held a fine blade that glimmered. Konata guessed that this orc was the garrison captain of the outpost, and she brought out her bow, placed an arrow the bowstave, and drew the cord till the feathers of the arrow reached her right ear. Aim and shoot, she thought, no hesitation.

She loosed.

The shaft flew and struck into the mail of the captain. The beast stared at the arrow sticking out of its chest, plucked it out without much effort, and looked at Konata. Its eyes seemed like they were laughing, laughing at her for thinking that she could kill it with just a single arrow. The captain pointed its blade at her, roared in a strange language, and the other orcs charged.

"Fuck," she said, then nocked another arrow and loosed.

Rinsuu shouted his challenge, then charged to meet the incoming orcs. Denham, Spanner, and Mayor followed, blades ready for more blood.

"Konata, stay back!" Shuji yelled.

Konata didn't need him to tell him that, her body falling into a mechanical routine of nock, draw, loose. Her arrows drove through leather and into flesh. Blood flew. She caught one orc in the shoulder, and Spanner's hatchet finished it off. Another shaft struck an orc's eye, though it didn't suffered long before being cut down by the swift blade of Denham.

It wasn't long before it was just the garrison captain and several other orcs left. Konata loosed two more arrows, only for them lodged fruitlessly on the captain's mail.

Shuji darted in at the orc. His sabre cut at the arm, scraped against the gauntlets. The beast tried to swing its sword, but Rinsuu slashed at its legs. The samurai's claymore scored a crude wound, and the orc went down on one knee. It was at that moment, Konata saw a small opening at its armpit of the captain's sword arm, where the chain-mail links had broken. She shot an arrow at it and the shaft punched through into flesh.

The captain roared out in pain as it dropped its sword, which clattered loudly on the floor. Hagman chose this moment to smash his mace onto the beast's head. The orc's helmet collapsed within, and blood began flowing down its face, dripping off the chin. The orc's cry died halfway in its throat. Its body slumped, then fell sideways. Dead.

The rest of the fight ended swiftly enough. The last orc in the room tried to bite Spanner's neck in a last ditch attempt to kill, but Mayor put an end to that with swift chop to the legs with her sabre, then executed it before it could move again.

"There's still more up in the turret, I'm guessing," Rinsuu said, eyeing the staircase that led to higher floors in the castle. "Denham, Yaro, Hagman, follow me."

The samurai ran up the stairs.

"You did good, rook," Denham said to Shuji before going up the stairs. Yaro and Hagman followed him.

Konata walked over to one of the arrowslits, mindful to not slip on blood. She gazed out of the castle and saw the **«Great Brigade»** players securing the courtyard. There were still some orcs, but their resistance was feeble. Some were fleeing, attempting to climb over the palisade walls to escape the outpost. Konata nocked an arrow in her bow and loosed.

The arrowhead found its mark in the back of a large orc as it climbed the palisade, driving through leather, and the beast screamed out in pain. It fell to ground, flopped, and did not stand back up again. It was still alive though—Konata knew one arrow wasn't enough to kill—but it had probably broken a lot of bones in the fall. No point in wasting another arrow to finish it off, she thought.

"It's over," she whispered. Her first raid was over, and she was still alive.

Rinsuu, Yaro, Denham, and Hagman returned soon, their weapons stained with fresh blood.

"Well, guys, good day's work," the samurai said. "Better get to looting. The lieutenant's men will be here soon, and I'm sure none of you wants them to get any of the good stuff."

"Aye, aye, capt," Mayor chirped, already picking up the dead captain's sword.

"I think I'm going out for a breath of air first," Luminos said, then disappeared down the stairs.

Konata sighed, tired. She slumped against the wall and looked at the carnage they had inflicted. The room was repainted in red, and the sunlight pouring in from the arrow slits brought a feverish sight to the masses of bodies on the floor. Spilled guts lay strewed all over. She felt like vomiting. Strange how the smell of blood only bothered her after the fight.

She let her head leaned back and rest against the hard stone. Her ponytail bothered her so she pulled out the hairband, letting the long strokes of caramel hair run free.

"You okay?" a familiar voice asked her.

"I'm fine, Shuji, just a little tired."

"Same here." She felt Shuji's body sit down next to hers, his long exhale relaxing her somewhat. "So what do you think? Our first raid."

"It went better than expected."

"Yeah, it did." A small chuckle escaped Shuji.

"This is only the beginning though, Shuji," said Konata. "We still have got one big ass fortress to take."

"One raid at a time, Konata. One raid at a time."

* * *

The sun was setting outside the meeting tent, casting long shadows throughout the camp, but inside the tent it was brightly lit by a set of ornamental oil lamps.

Asuna sat near the entrance, drumming her fingers on the large, round, oak table which dominated the center of the room. She stared at the nine other chairs around the table, currently empty for the time being, and wondered how early was she. Not that she minded being early; after all, better to be three hours too soon than a minute too late, as Shakespeare had once said.

It was a habit of hers to be early to these guilds meeting, for she could then run through mentally the items that needed to be discussed and also spend some thoughts on the ongoing raids. Quiet and alone, that's how she preferred it whenever she wanted to think. Especially when there were so many things to be considered and done.

Commander of the Clearers, who would have thought that she would be in this position. Before the start of every raid of a Floor's final dungeon, each clearer would vote to elect an overall leader to lead the raid. Before, it would usually be Thinker of the Army, due him being the leader of the largest guild in all of Aincrad. But ever since the Army—with almost a thousand of its members—left the front lines, there was no one guild that could take up the dominating status the Army once had. That was until the arrival of Heathcliff and the **«Knights of the Blood Oath»**. The man was initially an unknown, but soon became a player respected and looked upon by others, having a certain quality that made him seemed majestic. He fought without fear, and never second-guessed himself.

There was no question that Heathcliff was the man to lead the clearers in their raids. However, he had refused to be a candidate in the elections for reasons not known, and thus most clearers instead turned their votes to his second-in-command, Asuna. There were some that say that she was too young to have been elected, and others who say that she wasn't even qualified because she was just a second-in-command. Though, in the end, her track record in the many raids she had participated before triumphed over these arguments.

She accepted the role without hesitation, and now she had all the responsibilities. She can't decide whether she regretted making that decision. Perhaps there were others better suited to lead than her? There was no point wondering about it now though; she could only move forward from there on.

The doors of the tent opened, and Asuna turned to see who had entered.

"Konbanwa, Asuna-san," Klein said with a smile. He wore only a simple brown tunic and grey breeches for the meeting, though he had still donned his red bandana which he often joked that he never takes it off because it would expose his bigger than big forehead. He was the leader of a small guild, the **«Fuurinkazan»** , boasting of only twelve members, but they had a strong reputation among the clearers for efficiency and reliability.

"Konbanwa, Klein-san," she replied, watching him as he looked for his seat.

"Dale won't be attending today's meeting, Asuna-san," Klein said, referring to his second-in-command. "He and my other guys are guarding the last train of our supply wagons."

Asuna nodded. "I see. Be sure to keep him informed."

"Will do, Commander."

The next to enter the tent was Laennac. His red and gold livery of the **«Aincrad Engineers»** was soaked with sweat, and the dirt and grime on his hands showed as he saluted. Asuna waved him to be at ease.

"Hot day, Laennac," Klein greeted.

"Indeed. But those siege weapons still need to be built."

After Laennac, came Lind of the **«Divine Dragon Alliance»** and his second-in-command. Lind was a tall man, with a crop of brown hair atop his head, and he bore a constant frown on his face that made it seem as if he had a cynical outlook on everything. His second-in-command, Yamata, had an appearance that held nothing notable. Asuna only gave a brief nod to them as they went to their seats.

Several minutes passed with nothing said between the five players present in the tent. It was then Miku of the **«Great Brigade»** entered. She was a player in her early twenties, but carried an air that spoke of years more experienced. Her golden brown hair was tucked behind her ears, and she had the brigade's signature sky-blue cravat wrapped around her neck.

"Good, we're not late," Miku said with a matter of fact manner. Following behind her, was her second, Ezri, who had a face and reputation of a harsh taskmaster.

They took up their seats next to Klein and Laennac.

Well, all the ladies are here now, Asuna thought as she looked to the occupants around the table. Only one more person left to arrive.

Almost as if her thought was a trigger, the door of the tent opened again. Heathcliff. The man was probably weary after a long day of clearing, but none of that showed in his body language as he acknowledged those in the tents. When he moved, he moved with purpose, with a facial expression that knew exactly what needs to be done and how to be done. Asuna always wondered what reasons does the man have to refuse leading the clearers.

"Is everyone here yet, Commander?" Heathcliff asked as he sat down on the seat next to Asuna.

"Yes, sir. We can begin now," she replied. She had yet to break the habit of calling him 'sir' even though currently she outranked him for this raid.

"Very well." He waved as if to tell her she could start speaking.

Asuna turned to face the others. So, she thought, how do we do this?

"As we have expected," she began, "the orcs have prepared their defenses well. Pathe Varis will be a tough egg to crack, and thus we can't afford to do anything with less than our very best efforts. What's more, this is the first Floor where we have to conduct a siege, so we have to be extra cautious. Laennac, please give us an update on the siege works."

The engineer materialized some parchments for reference, and said, "Everything is on schedule. By our estimates the siege engines should be done by next week. That is, if everything goes smoothly. I do have, um, concerns that there will be sorties out to harass us over the next few days."

"Noted," Asuna said, and looked to Lind.

"I'll double the men protecting the engineers," said Lind.

"That's much appreciated," thanked Laennac.

"How long will it take to make a practical breech?" Klein asked.

"Another week, I reckoned," the engineer estimated.

"So two weeks before the assault. And that's being optimistic."

Laennac nodded, rubbing his chin. "Aye, that's being optimistic. Though the Commander tells me she wants to make second breach as well. So three weeks."

A solemn mood passed among the others as they looked to Asuna. She didn't feel like explaining the reasoning Kirito gave her.

"Moving on to the other reports," she said. "Miku, how's the progress in clearing any enemy stranglers in the east?"

Ezri spoke on behalf of her superior, "Commander, we've encountered no trouble so far. All the major roads have been cleared of the enemy. No casualties on our side."

"No casualties. That's what I want to hear," Asuna said, holding back a sigh of relief.

"I also have to report," continued Ezri, "that one of our companies was successful in securing an outpost on our eastern flank. Again, no casualties on our side."

"Good. Keep your men posted there."

"Yes, Commander."

Asuna turned to Heathcliff, bowing her head slightly. "Sir, anything to report?"

The man nodded and when he spoke, he held everyone's utmost full attention. "It's strange," he said, though his voice didn't betray any bemusement. "My Chosen men and I have been clearing the ruins in the south, but we didn't encounter one single orc the whole day. We found some fire pits, but they were abandoned, though they must only have been burnt out for a day long only."

Asuna took the news with a straight face. Definitely strange. Captain Lewis had said those riders had come from the south as well.

"I'll send the Extraordinarii to investigate this tomorrow," she said. Every precaution must be taken. "Thank you for your report, sir."

Heathcliff nodded. "I think we should start organizing the Forlorn Hope," he said.

Puzzlement overcame Asuna. "This soon? I had planned to wait a few days before making the announcement," she said. The **«Forlorn Hope»** was the group of players who would be the first to assault the fortress walls when the time came. They would be at the most risk, Asuna knew, and it was unavoidable that some of them may die.

"It's best to start organizing the Forlorns now. Players will have more time to back out if they change their minds." Heathcliff materialized a scroll. "I have here a list of names from the KoB who have so far already volunteered."

Asuna took the scroll and stored it in her inventory. "I understand. I'll look at it later." She turned to the others. "Alright, we might as well get this done early then. Make the announcement to your guild and hand me a list of volunteers by the end of the week."

"Yes, Commander," they responded.

Her thoughts returned to the report Heathcliff gave, and she decided to bring up what Lewis had told her.

"I've received a report today from Captain Lewis of the Extraordinarii," Asuna said. "Last night, there was an attack on the village of Johurst. Everything was burnt, and only one player survived."

"Crap," whispered Klein.

"The survivor told me that red-skinned orc riders had come out seemingly nowhere and just killed everything on sight before fleeing the scene." She had purposely left out Kirito's name, for she knew that there were others in this room who didn't take kindly to him. "These riders, he said, were a different breed of orcs that he has never seen before. And from what I've heard, they seem to be stronger than all the others we have faced so far."

"I see," Miku said, leaning forward on her chair with interest. "Attacks on villages are not uncommon, but it is definitely unheard of to have one entirely wiped out."

"Exactly, which is why I decided to bring this up."

"This definitely hasn't happened before," Lind spoke.

"It's possible," Miku said, "that this group of riders may be this Floor's field boss."

Everyone turned to her.

"You have a point there, Miku," Lind said. "We haven't had a field boss in the past few Floors, so I had assumed that there wasn't one here either."

"Same," Asuna admitted. If these riders were the field boss, then that definitely complicated matters. She would have to proceed with more caution. "We'll need more information on these orcs."

"I'll have my scouts on the lookout for them," said Miku.

"Red-skinned orcs," mumbled Klein. "Perhaps, the lore of this Floor might give us some information. Talking with the NPCs could reveal something."

"I'll leave that to you then, Klein," Asuna said, then asked Heathcliff, "Sir, what're your thoughts on this?"

The grizzled player pondered for a moment before speaking. "I think the possibility is highly likely. From what we've seen on this Floor so far, nothing suggests that Kayaba intends for us to breeze though here easily."

Asuna nodded. She trusted the judgement of Heathcliff above all others; the man had a six sense for these sort of things. Thus, if he said that there was a high possibility, she knew she had another problem on her hand.

Klein sighed. "A fortress to take _and_ a field boss. Man, this floor is a tough one."

"Aye, it is," Laennac put in, placing his hand on the shoulder of the Fuurinkazan leader. "But it still needs to be cleared."

"Yeah. Hopefully, the next floor will be easier."

"One floor at a time, my friend. One floor at a time."

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** Well, initially this chapter had just been an incredible pain to write, to be honest. I wrote so many drafts to this and threw away so many drafts. The raid scene was my biggest problem because I didn't know how I wanted to approach it; I had tried many different ways, but they were too complicated and I wanted this raid to be more simple. Moreover, I had a lot of problem with the amount of characters to keep track during the fighting, which I find an annoying chore to do. It was quite demotivating in fact. As such, I kept putting off writing.

But in the last two weeks, I managed to plant my ass in the chair and just write. I'm pretty satisfied with what I have here, not completely pleased with it, but happy enough, especially when compared to all the other drafts I had written before. One thing good that came out of writing this chapter is that I realized if I can get through writing this tough chapter, I feel I can get through writing anything now.

Anyway, tell me what you think of it. Don't be afraid to be blunt.

Well, that's the end of this chapter, be sure to favorite, follow, review or PM me if you want. See ya.


End file.
